How Often Should You Be Cleaning Your Engagement Ring?

An engagement ring is a precious gift from a loved one, making it a piece of jewelry that should be treated with care. By taking the time to learn about how often to clean your engagement ring, you can ensure this piece of jewelry looks good for a lifetime. 

Wedding ring jewelry, like any other possession, experiences a bit of wear and tear. Things like dishwashing soap and water as well as dirt from everyday activities can cause your ring to tarnish and lose some of its dazzling shine. 

If you want to learn how to do some regular cleaning to keep your diamond engagement ring sparkling, read on! We'll walk you through how to easily keep clean diamond rings. 

Tips on How to Clean Your Engagement Ring

How often should you clean your ring?  The degree and level of cleaning differ depending on the timing you choose. Let’s explore some ring cleaning regimens below. 

Cleaning Your Engagement Ring Every Two Weeks

It's a good idea to clean a diamond ring at least once every two weeks if you love wearing your engagement ring every day. This is due to the fact that daily wear gradually accumulates debris, layers of oil, and other cosmetic residues on the metal and stone surfaces. This creates the ideal breeding ground for bacteria, which can cause metal discoloration, skin irritations, and scratch marks on the stone.

Since diamond is a tough and resilient precious metal, you can clean it regularly without causing unnecessary damage from the washing process. Gently cleaning your diamond engagement ring will not only help get rid of bacteria but also restore its shine. When cleaning your ring at home, be sure to use a gentle toothbrush and jewelry cleaner. The idea is to softly scrub the metal and stone.

Cleaning Your Diamond Engagement Ring Once Every Month

While regularly cleaning your engagement ring once every other week helps to minimize the cleaning process, it's prudent to give your diamond engagement ring a more thorough cleaning once every month. If you are going to be doing home cleaning for this, remember to not scrub hard or use harsh chemicals. During this process, leave your diamond ring submerged in jewelry cleaner for 10 minutes. Then, scrub gently with a toothbrush and rinse clean in hot water. 

Note: When cleaning your diamond engagement ring at home, avoid using harsh chemicals such as chlorine, bleach, or acetone. They can ruin some of the base metals that make up engagement rings.

Cleaning Your Engagement Ring Twice Every Year

Once every six months or so, it's advisable to take your diamond engagement ring to a professional cleaning. Professional cleaners are experts in dealing with fine jewelry and know how to treat a clean diamond ring. Apart from giving your engagement ring a thorough cleaning and shine, they will inspect it to ensure that it's maintaining its structural integrity. They will check to see that there are no stones coming loose or out of place and that there are no prongs that have become bent.

Unfortunately, most of the wear and tear they check and correct may occur during your home jewelry cleaning sessions. Unlike a professional jewelry cleaner, you may not know exactly what to do to repair these mishaps.

It should be noted that, while very beneficial in the long run, home cleanings are not a direct substitute for professional jewelry cleaning. Making sure that you clean your diamond ring at home every other week and every other month will make the professional cleaning process less costly. Plus, with clean diamond jewelry, you might prevent skin irritations that come with bacteria build-up that can occur when you don't do these regular home cleanings.